Figure 1.--Here we see a North Dakota farm family. They seem to be wrestling with a goat. The photograph is undated, but looks to have been taken in the late 1940s. Notice mom is wearing pants. That is something we see in rural areas and later in suburbia after the War. We suspect that war service and factory workk were factors here. Also note the little girl wearing pants.

The 1940s were a monentous decade. The Depression was finally over, but then America became caught up in the malestorm of World War II. After the victory over the NAZIs an Japanese militarists, America had to face the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Anerican families were affected by the post-War Baby Boom. There were major fashion changes through all that. Knickers which were sill worn at the beginnikng of the decade disappeared during the War. More boys wore long pants. Younger boys might wear shorts, especially during the summer. Some boys from conservative, often affluent families might have short pants suits. There was a trend for plain practival clothing during the War. Knickers disappeared. Jeans were mostly overalls worn in rural areas at the beginning of the decade. The War and Hollywood made jeans popular with boys by the end of the decade. Jeans rapidly replaced corduroy knickers as standard school wear. Sneakers were increasingly common. "T"-shirts beccame standard wear for boys. Girls still wore mostly dresses, but we see country girls wearing pants. Overall differences between country and city families were beginning to disappear by the end of the decade. Now that we are fully in the snapshiot era. We no longer know wehere tghe ohiotograohs were taken unless someone has left an inscription.

Unidentified Rural Family (Mississippi, about 1940)

This photo shows an African-American family in Wilson, Mississippi Co., Arkansas, about 1940. They had the photo taken in front of their home and with their car. The car helps date the photograph, but of course it does not look like a new car, but it does not look real old either. We do not know if they owned the farm or were share cropers. The car rather suggests that they owned the farm. The children are barefoot. One boy wears overalls. The girls wear simple frocks.

Overaker Family (Illinois, 1940s)

A HBC reader has provided us some images of a New Illinois family--the Overaker family. They were from Springfield, Illinois--the state capital. Some of the photographs are from the 1940s. We also see various family members in different decades. Unfortunately we do not know much about the family other than can be deduced from the photographs.

Colvin Family (unknown state, 1941)

Here we see a family snapshot of the Colvin fmily. We see Bill, Betty, Mary asnd Jr meaning Junior They look to be about 4-12 years of age. They are all together in an enormous sand pit. It could be a beach, but the children do not seem dressed for the beach. Billy wears a kind of long-sleeved polo shirt, a stange choice in the middle of the summer. We are not sure about his pants. Perhaps he has rolled them up to play in the sand. He has dark sneakers, something you do not see so much by the 40s. Betty is wearing a jumper dress and white blouse. Mary is wearing a striped shirt and fashionable long pants. Girls still wore mostly dresses and long pants were not very common yet, but these long, wide-cut pants were being worn by movie stars. Juniior wears a short pants sailor play suit. By the 40s only younger boys were wearing sailor suits. We know the snapshot was taken on July 2, 1941 at the peak of summer just before the Independence Day holiday and all the fun with picnics and fire works. We have no idea where they are, perhaps somewhere along the northeastern coast. There seem to be toys scattered about.

Gilliam Family (Kentucky, 1942)

This family snapshot was taken in Brushy Creek, Kentucky during May 1942. It shows Arville and Mary Gilliam with their five children. As mother wears an aprol, we are guessingthst they arenear home. It is not real clear what the boys are wearing, bur we see jeans and overalls and they are barefoot. Country boys still wore bib-front overalls in the early-40s, but by the end of the decade they were not very common--even in rural areas. Even city boys, however, were wearing jeans. While the family was not very fashionable, mother seems to have taken a good deal of care with the boys' hair. We note carefully cut bangs.

Gartner Family (Iowa, 1943)

Here we see the entire Gartner family of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1943. In the back row we have the parents, Carl and Margie Gartner, and in the front row David (age 9) and Michael (age 6). Michael is now a journalist, and the photograph is taken from a newspaper article by Michael on his parents, who didn't drive a car and went everywhere in their neighborhood either by public transportation (streetcar) or on foot. The boys' clothes seem to be fairly typical for the period for a middle-class family. David wears a white short-sleeved shirt, white short pants (note the self-belt), and white knee socks with cuffs. Michael, the younger boy, wears a dark suit with a white-collared shirt underneath (open at the neck), short pants, and ankle socks. We can't see the boys' shoes in the photo, but they are almost certainly low-cut leather shoes.

Scouting Family (Maine, 1943)

Here we have a wonderfully patriotic, World War II era portrait of the Doe Scouting family with a portrait of Brownie Emily Louise Doe, Cub Scout Benjamin Seth Doe, Jr., and Girl Scout Katherine Benson Doe. All are in full uniform. Scouting became very popular in America after World War I (1914-18). Because of the costs involved, it was primarily a middle-class movement. The children look to be about 8-13 years old. Their father, Benjamin S. Doe, Sr., was a photographer in Peaks Island, Maine. Peaks Island is the largest and most populous island in Casco Bay, Maine. It is actually part of the city of Portland and is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from the downtown. He provided many photos to the Portland Press Herald Newspaper. This is a great portrait of his Scouting kids during the War. It was a family photo card--a Christmas greetings staple that became very popular during the 1950s-70s.

Farm Family (North Carolina, 1940s)

This is an Asheville, North Carolina family during the 1940s. We would guess the mid-1940s. The photograph was taken in the country. In fact they are on a farm. (Note the farm wggon in the background.) But we do not know if the family was a farm family or a city family having a picnic in the country or visiting country relatves. We suspect that they were a city family. Short pants and sandals were more common for city boys than farm boys. Of course, North Carolina is in the South and short pants were more common in the South than North. And the 940s, especially after World War II was when the fashion dofferences between rural and urban families began to disappear in America. The boys wear a varierty of shorts sets. The older boy wear self-belted shorts. The younger boys seem to be wearig button-on outfits.

Hodgdon Family (unknown state, 1946)

This is a Christmas 1946 portrait of the Hodgdon family. Christmas snapshots were an important American family traditions. The children are Diane and Dennis Hodgdon. They look to be about 5-10 years old. Mother is taking the photograph. Diane has ringle curls. Note the wide, bold ties and Dennis and his father are wearing.

Extended Slovak-American Family (probably Pennsylvania, 1947-48)

A HBC reader sent us this family photograph. We can not yet confrm it, but it looks to be a Slovak-American portrait at a family gathering. It looks like the anniversry of the family pareiarchs seated in the center surrounded by their extended family. We would date the photograph to the late 1940s to us, but we are not positive. The clothing looks American to us, except for the long stockings the boys are wearing. American boys did wear long stockings in the 1930s, but it was much less common in the 1940s, especially after World War II.

Farm Family (unknown state, 1940s?)

Here we see a farm family, but we are not sure about the date. We think it might be the late 1940s. We see four siblings, clearly from an American farm family. The children are about 17, 14, 10, and 8 years of age, I think. The oldest boy wears blue jeans with wide suspenders that button onto the outside at the waist with a summer open necked shirt. His brother wears bib overalls with an open-necked shirt with sleeves rolled up. The youngest boy wears an open shirt with cotton shorts (cut rather long to just above his knees). The girl wears a print dress with a hair ribbons. We don't where the photo was taken, but we suspect somewhere in the Midwest.

Unidentified Family (unknown state, 1940s)

Here we see an unidentified family. It is undated, but looks to be the 1940s to us. We have no idea where the photograph was taken. It could have been any where in America. The image looks staged to us, but men did more cimmonly wear suits in the 1940s than is common today. Its a little hard to see just what the boy is wearing, but it looks to be some sort of shorts set. The girl wears a dress which was still quite common at the time.

Farm Family (North Dakota, Late-1940s)

Here we see a North Dakota farm family (figure 1). They seem to be wrestling with a goat. The photograph is undated, but looks to have been taken in the late 1940s. Notice mom is wearing pants. That is something we see in rural areas and later in suburbia after the War. We suspect that war service and factory workk were factors here. Also note the little girl wearing pants.

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Created: 12:25 AM 12/4/2006
Last edited: 3:16 PM 10/15/2023